Easter Special 2024

Bidenism comes to Britain

Rachel Reeves, Labour’s chancellor-in-waiting and chief ideologue, aims to establish a new economic consensus with an active state at…

Letter of the week: In search of empathy

Write to [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.

How low will Sunak go to keep power?

Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.

The revenge of Sue Gray

From Stormont to partygate, the former civil servant specialised in problematic situations. Now she’s Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.

The cathedrals courting controversy

Also this week: the meaning of Easter, exploring forgiveness, and doing battle with moss.

Ed Davey: “The Lib Dems and Labour aren’t fighting each other”

The Lib Dem leader on his affinity with Keir Starmer, the rise of Reform UK and what John Rawls…

Here in Israel people feel deeply unsafe and the two-state solution looks doomed

At the site of Hamas’s 7 October attack, one struggles to comprehend the horrific consequences of the war and…

Dune: Part Two depicts a world of ceaseless struggle – like our own

Resource scarcity, neo-feudalism, perpetual conflict: Denis Villeneuve’s film is not a fantasy but an epiphany of the present.

Trump is not the problem

For American democracy to survive, we need to address the cultural breakdown that’s allowing authoritarians to flourish.

Germany is on the brink of economic decline

Digital investment is being cut and industry is stuck in the past, in a country where the fax machine…

Ireland’s progressive centre cannot hold

As Leo Varadkar steps down as Taoiseach, voters are turning away from the Republic’s mainstream liberal consensus.

Inside Britain’s asylum backlog

Rishi Sunak claims he has cleared the “legacy” waiting list of claims and is emptying hotels. Thousands are still…

Welcome to the Willy Wonka experience that is British politics

Realpolitik is giving way to Feelpolitik – where doing stuff is replaced by just saying the stuff you would…

Your own personal Jesus

In the beginning there were many different sons of God – Western Christianity triumphed not by destiny but accident.

The NS Poem: Birthday

A new poem by Simon Armitage.

Westminster’s downward spiral

Boris Johnson and his court brought an already corrupt system to new lows. Can ethics be restored to politics?

Delusions of immortality

In Why We Die, Venki Ramakrishnan demolishes the crackpots and billionaires behind the anti-ageing industry.

A boyhood built on fear

The cruelties of Maidwell Hall boarding school, described by Charles Spencer in his memoir, have blighted my adult life.

Stephen King’s Carrie and the horror of girlhood

The triumph of the writer’s debut novel, published 50 years ago, is its understanding of a teenage girl’s destructive…

The best children’s books for spring 2024

Find cinematic joy and heroes seeking comradeship in new books for young readers.

Bach’s bridge to the past

The St John Passion, first performed 300 years ago, is not just a religious epic but also a profoundly…

The last crimes of Caravaggio

Within weeks of finishing his final painting, a murder scene, the artist was himself dead.

In Immaculate, Sydney Sweeney is Gen Z’s scream queen

At 26, the rising star has her own production company – and this body horror set in a nunnery…

The luxe vapidity of Palm Royale

Allison Janney is at her best in this glitzy series about feminism and Sixties Florida. But it should be…

When meditation goes wrong

A new podcast uncovers a wellness retreat linked to mental breakdowns and suicides.

Easter is not the right time to eat lamb

Meat from older animals is more obviously in season. Where did this hasty culinary tradition come from?

I can’t find a diagnosis for Ted – but he can diagnose modern medicine

“Everything’s decided on thousands of people,” he told me. “That can’t possibly tell you what to do for any…

Toast or a shower? My great energy dilemma

The general consensus among my friends is that I should tell EDF to stick their bill where the sun…

At 32, I am only just getting over the concept of time difference

M— is away for a month. Two weeks today, by the time you read this.

Football is driven by money – but also improved by it

Thanks to Premier League billions, the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton attract good players, and, on occasion, can stuff…

This England: Beauty school

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…

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Jackie Kay Q&A: “Audre Lorde told me: ‘You can be black and Scottish’”

The poet and novelist on Bessie Smith, Coronation Street and being a night owl.